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Garlic has been an important herbal remedy
for centuries. Painted on the walls of
Egyptian tombs and placed in the tombs,
for consumption in the afterlife, as early as
3700 BC, garlic was used as a remedy for
heart disease, cancer and other ailments,
as documented in ancient Egyptian medical
documents, dating from 1550 BC.

Modern science validate many of the medicinal benefits of
garlic and its potential to help lower risk factors for a wide range
of conditions, many age related, that include cardiovascular and
neurological diseases and cancer. Cancer-preventive actions of
garlic and Aged Garlic Extract™ (AGE), an odorless natural
garlic supplement made by Wakunaga of America (Kyolic®
AGE) are documented in experimental models and in humans.
The underlying mechanisms of garlic protection, shown mostly
through research using AGE, are largely due to its potent
antioxidants, a high content of organosulfur compounds,
an ability to enhance immunological protection, detoxify
carcinogens, reduce inflammation and help prevent cancer—
causing mutations.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES
A fact sheet from the National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/garlic-andcancer-prevention concludes the following:

“Several population studies show an association between
increased intake of garlic and reduced risk of certain cancers,
including cancers of the stomach, colon, esophagus, pancreas,
and breast. In analyzing results from seven population studies,
investigators showed that the higher the amount of garlic
consumed, the lower the risk of stomach and colorectal cancer.

A large prospective study, the Iowa Women’s Study,
investigating the role of diet and other risk factors in cancer
incidence in older women, showed a strong association between
garlic consumption and reduced risk for colon cancer. Women
who consumed the highest amounts of garlic had a 50 percent
lower risk of cancer of the distal colon compared with those
who had the lowest level of garlic consumption.

Several population studies conducted in China centered on
garlic consumption and cancer risk. One of the studies showed
that frequent consumption of garlic and various types of onions
and chives was associated with reduced risk of esophageal
and stomach cancers, with the greatest reduction in risk seen
in the higher levels of consumption. Another study found
that consumption of allium vegetables, especially garlic and
onions, was linked to a reduced risk of stomach cancer. In a
third study, greater intake of allium vegetables, especially garlic
and scallions (more than 10 grams per day) was associated with
approximately 50 percent reduction in prostate cancer risk.
Evidence also suggests that increased garlic consumption
may reduce pancreatic cancer risk. A study conducted in the San
Francisco Bay area found that pancreatic cancer risk was 54 percent
lower in people who ate larger amounts of garlic compared with
those who ate lower amounts.

In addition, a study in France found that increased garlic
consumption was associated with a statistically significant
reduction in breast cancer risk. After considering total calorie intake
and other established risk factors, breast cancer risk was reduced
in those consuming greater amounts of fiber, garlic, and onions.

A recent epidemiological study from China has shown
that there is a protective association between the intake of raw
garlic once or twice a week and lung cancer, and that the effects
were related to dose. The authors suggested that garlic might
have potential in preventing lung cancer but that the effective
components in the lung cancer prevention effects are unknown.

AGE A NATURAL PROTECTANT
Garlic intake may not be for everyone, as its lingering smell
and its potential gastric side effects, such as flatulence and
diarrhea prevents many from consuming fresh garlic, depriving
them of its benefits. Aged Garlic Extract (Kyolic AGE, Wakunaga
of America) is an odorless and natural garlic supplement,
produced from fresh organically grown garlic, by a lengthy
process of aging and extraction, at room temperature. The
harsh unstable substances found in the fresh bulb, such as
allicin, the source of garlic’s odor, are converted into stable
compounds such as S-allyl cysteine, the major water soluble
organosulfur compound in AGE, used to standardize AGE, and
S- allyl mercaptocyteine, unique to AGE. AGE has been the major
form of garlic used in research on its health effects, reported in
close to 700 scientific and clinical studies. Rich in organosulfur
products with high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities,
AGE has shown in experimental models and in clinical studies
to help protect against pathological and age-related conditions,
many associated with free radical damage and inflammation.
These include cancer, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular
disease, and neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, its
main form being Alzheimer’s disease. AGE has been shown to
boost the immune system and promotes the metabolism and
detoxification, ridding the body of carcinogens and other toxic
products.

ANTI-CANCER EFFECTS OF AGE
The anti-cancer effects of AGE have been widely reported in
model systems. Among these findings AGE and its constituents
inhibited colon cancer in a dose-dependent manner and
stimulated an enzyme known to assist in detoxifying many
carcinogens in the liver and colon, glutathione S-transferase.
AGE and its components are effective anti-cancer agents by
acting in various ways. Their high antioxidant content scavenges
free radicals that can trigger cancer-mutations in DNA; other
actions include blocking carcinogen binding to DNA, preventing
mutations and detoxifying carcinogens. AGE also plays a role in
killing cancer cells, by apoptosis, a programmed cell death and
by enhancing the action of immune cell that attack cancer cells,
the natural killer cells.

AGE PROTECTS HUMANS AGAINST COLON CANCER DEVELOPMENT

Epidemiological have shown the cancer preventive effects of
garlic; model experimental studies have found that AGE and its
compounds, such as S-allyl cysteine, S-allylmercaptocysteine
and alxin have anticarcinogenic effects; yet, the effects in
humans had to be established by a clinical study. A double-blind,
randomized clinical trial was carried out by Tanaka and
colleagues. The investigators used high levels of AGE (2.4 ml/
day) as an active treatment and low-doses of AGE (0.16 ml/day)
as a control, on 51 patients with colorectal adenomas (polyps),
non-malignant tumors that can develop into metastatic cancer.
The study randomly assigned patients into one of the two
groups of AGE content, after removing adenomas that were
larger than 5 mm in diameter.

Using colonoscopy, the investigators determined the
numbers and sizes of the adenomas, prior to giving the patients
AGE (0 months) and later, at 6 and 12 months after beginning
the intake.

Thirty-seven patients (19 in the active group, 18 in the
control group) completed the study. The findings were that in
the control group, given the lower levels of AGE, the number of
adenomas increased linearly from the beginning of the study
(baseline); by contrast, the group given the high dose of AGE
showed that after 12 months of intake, AGE suppressed both
the size and the number of the adenomas in a statistically
significant manner. These striking results showed that the
garlic supplement Kyolic AGE has potential to protect humans
against colon cancer, by preventing the progression of colorectal
adenomas into the full-blown colon cancer.

EVALUATION OF THE RESULTS
The clinical study showing that Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract
prevented the development of cancer from non-cancerous
lesions is an important finding that supports the results of
epidemiological studies showing that consumption of garlic
reduces gastrointestinal cancers, when taken in high doses.
Not everyone is attuned to taking high doses of fresh
garlic, the odor remains on the skin and breath and fresh garlic
can produce unpleasant gastrointestinal adverse effects, not to
mention the anti-social consequences.

Thus AGE, that is odorless and whose disease preventive
effects are as effective and sometimes even more so than those
of fresh garlic, is the most popular form of garlic preparation
among consumers and the most researched, by scientists and
clinicians studying the disease preventive effects of garlic.

The clinical study showing that AGE inhibits precancerous
adenomas and potentially prevents their development into
colon cancer is a quantitative study, supported by the excellent
standardization of AGE’s active ingredients. This is an
improvement over studies evaluating the effects of fresh garlic
cloves, where garlic intake cannot be standardized in the same
way. Also, garlic bulbs may contain up to 33 different lipid and
water-soluble organosulfur compounds, with each having
a different potential inhibitory effects on cancer, as shown in
laboratory studies; the doses, that is the number of cloves that
would be required in humans to have an inhibitory effect on
colon cancer are unknown.

By contrast, AGE compounds such as S-allyl cysteine,
the most prevalent compound in AGE has a 98 percent
bioavailability experimentally and can be used potentially as a
marker to reflect the intake of aged garlic extract components.

BOTTOM LINE:
Cancer is a multistep process that has genetic components
that are inherited but it also is a disease that is initiated and/or
promoted by environmental factors and some metabolic effects,
such as free radicals and oxidation. The intake of fresh garlic
as a condiment and supplementing the daily diet with odorless
Kyolic AGE, are effective approaches to help protect against the
onset and development of some forms of cancer.

Carmia Borek, PhD

Carmia Borek has a PhD in genetics and molecular biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and an MS degree in the fields of physiology, pharmacology and biochemistry, from George Washington University. As an expert in the fields of cancer and in the role of nutrition and antioxidants in disease prevention, Dr. Borek has published in over 300 scientific publications and has been
the editor of several books in medicine and biology. Additionally, Dr. Borek is the author of over 100 educational and popular articles in the fields of diet and health, including the book Maximize Your Health-Span with Antioxidants, The Baby Boomer’s Guide a science-based book for the non-scientist.

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